Butler Opens 2011-12 Campaign At Evansville

OPENING TIP:
Butler will begin a new season in a new arena against an old foe
when it visits Evansville on Saturday, Nov. 12. The
season-opener for both teams is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (CT, 3
p.m. in Indianapolis) and will be televised in central Indiana on
WNDY-TV. The contest between longtime foes Butler and
Evansville will be the first basketball game in the Ford Center in
downtown Evansville. The new arena replaces Robert Stadium,
home to Evansville basketball for 55 years and the site of numerous
Butler-Evansville basketball encounters. The two Indiana
squads will be meeting for the 117th time when they take the floor
a the Ford Center. The Bulldogs, coming off back-to-back
appearances in the NCAA Division I national championship game, will
be opening on the road for the third time in the five-year tenure
of head coach Brad Stevens. The Butler coach won his first
game at Ball State in 2007-08, and the Bulldogs opened the 2008-09
season with a victory at Drake. Butler, which lost a home
game to Evansville a year ago, is coming off a 91-53 exhibition
game victory over Franklin. Evansville defeated
Illinois-Springfield, 74-61, in its last exhibition outing.
Butler will play its home-opener on Tuesday, Nov. 15, against
Chattanooga.

Butler has picked up wins in its last three visits to
Evansville.

MIXED RESULTS: Butler split two preseason
exhibition games, dropping a 53-50 decision on a last-second shot
to visiting Northern State before rebounding with a 91-53 homecourt
victory over Franklin. Northern State rallied from a
nine-point deficit in the final five minutes of the contest and
stunned the Bulldogs on Alex Thomas’ three-point field goal
at the buzzer. Three days later, the Bulldogs bolted to a
20-point half time lead, 45-25, over Franklin and then pulled away
to the 38-point victory behind 62% (18-29) shooting in the final 20
minutes.

TOP DOG: Butler head coach Brad Stevens,
beginning his fifth season at the Bulldogs’ helm, owns the
top spot on the NCAA Division I list for Best Career Starts By
Wins, 4 Seasons. The Butler coach, who boasts a four-year
117-25 record, climbed past the previous four-year leader Everett
Case of North Carolina State, who compiled a 107-22 record from
1947-50. Stevens also holds the NCAA three-year record with
89 victories, and he’s second on the two-year list with 56
wins.

NEW YEAR: The Bulldogs have just two
seniors, Ronald Nored and Garrett Butcher, on this year’s
squad and just five players who boast more than one season of
experience. Gone from last year’s 28-10 team, which won
the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships and
advanced to the national title game for a second straight year, are
starters Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack and Shawn Vanzant, top reserve
Zach Hahn and four-year letterwinners Grant Leiendecker and Alex
Anglin. Howard finished his career as Butler’s third
all-time leading scorer and rebounder, while Mack was taken by the
Washington Wizards in the second round of the NBA Draft. The
six departures accounted for 64% of Butler’s scoring and 48%
of the squad’s rebounding a year ago. This year’s
squad features eight returning letterwinners and six
freshmen.

SOLID START: Junior Andrew Smith, who
started 32 games for the Bulldogs a year ago, led Butler in scoring
in both preseason exhibition games. The 6-11 center hit five
of nine shots from the floor, including his first collegiate
three-point field goal, and eight of 12 from the free throw line to
lead the Bulldogs with 19 points against Northern State. He
also had an assist and three blocked shots in 30 minutes of action
against the NCAA Division II foe. He then hit seven of nine shots
from the field and four of four from the free throw line against
Franklin for a second 19-point performance. Smith was
Butler’s third-leading scorer (8.5) and second-leading
rebounder (5.6) last season.

Andrew Smith finished second in the Horizon League in field
goal shooting (.593) in 2010-11. VETERAN BOOST: Junior Chase Stigall (right),
who started 13 of Butler’s final 15 games a year ago, was
Butler’s second leading scorer during the exhibition slate
with a 12.5 average. The 6-3 guard scored nine points in the
Bulldogs’ opener against Northern State and then came back
with 14 points in 20 minutes against Franklin. The 14 points
were three points better than his regular season career-high set
against Florida State last year. Stigall, who shot 32% from
three-point range a year ago, hit six of nine (67%) long-range
shots in the two preseason contests!

Chase Stigall leads all current Bulldogs in career three-point
field goals (43).

TOUCH UP: Butler’s shooting coach
might want to put in for a raise. The Bulldogs’
improvement from their first exhibition contest to their second was
dramatic. Butler shot just 32.7% (18-55) from the field,
including just 16.7% (3-18) from beyond the three-point arc, in a
three-point loss to Northern State. The Bulldogs further hit
just 11 of 21 (52.4%) attempts from the free throw line.
Three days later, the Bulldogs shot 53.3% (32-60) from the floor
and 52.9% (9-17) from three-point range in a victory over
Franklin. Butler’s free throw shooting performance
improved to 78.3% (18-23) in the second contest.

BENCH MARK: After getting just six points
off the bench against Northern State, Butler picked up 33 points
from non-starters against Franklin. Freshman Andrew Smeathers
led the way with 11 points in 19 minutes of reserve action, while
freshman Jackson Aldridge came off the bench with 10 points.
Butler’s first-year players accounted for 28 of the 33
reserve points.

BULLDOG BITS:

•Butler head coach Brad Stevens used the same starting lineup
in Butler’s two exhibition games. Getting the nod in the two
preseason tests were senior Ronald Nored, juniors Andrew Smith and
Chase Stigall, sophomore Khyle Marshall and freshman Kameron
Woods. Ten different Bulldogs saw action in both
contests.

•Senior Ronald Nored did not play in Butler’s game
against Evansville at Hinkle Fieldhouse last year. The Butler
point-guard suffered a concussion one game earlier in the
Bulldogs’ victory at Siena, and he sat out the game against
the Aces.

•Butler’s Ronald Nored is one of 30 candidates nominated
for the 2011-12 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. The award is
presented to one senior who has shown notable achievement in four
areas of excellence - classroom, character, community and
competition. Former teammate Matt Howard was one of 10
finalists for the award a year ago.

•Ronald Nored has been named to the 25-player Lou Henson
Preseason All-America Team. The CollegeInsider.com team
honors the top Mid-Major players in the nation. Nored joined
Detroit’s Ray McCallum as the lone Horizon League players
selected to this year’s preseason squad. Butler’s
Matt Howard was named the Lou Henson Player of the Year last
season.

•Ronald Nored led the Bulldogs with six assists against
Northern State and with eight assists against Franklin. Nored
is 11th on Butler’s all-time assist chart with 304 career
assists, one shy of Brandon Miller (2000-03) in the No. 10
spot.

•Center Andrew Smith did not start against Evansville last
year, but he came off the bench with eight points and five rebounds
in 15 minutes of action. He followed that performance by
starting 32 of Butler’s next 33 games.

•Andrew Smith was the lone Butler player named to the
preseason All-Horizon League team. The 6-11 Butler center
earned second team All-League recognition on the preseason squad
chosen by league coaches, media an sports information
directors.

•Sophomore Khyle Marshall, who played for the USA at the 2011
FIBA U19 World Championship last summer, had 14 points in
Butler’s exhibition opener against Northern State. He
scored eight points in 14 minutes in the Bulldogs’ second
contest against Franklin.

•Sophomore guard Chrishawn Hopkins, who suffered a concussion
in practice prior to Butler’s game against Northern State,
did not play in either of the Bulldogs’ exhibition
contests. Hopkins saw action in 21 Butler games as a
freshman. He’s expected to be available for
Butler’s season-opener at Evansville.

•Freshmen Roosevelt Jones (8) and Kameron Woods (7) led the
Bulldogs in rebounds against Franklin.

•The Bulldogs, who hit nine three-point field goals against
Franklin, are 50-4 in regular season play under coach Brad Stevens
when hitting nine or more three-pointers.

•Butler head coach Brad Stevens landed three recruits on the
first day of the NCAA’s fall signing period. Joining
the Bulldogs’ 2012-13 freshman class were 6-5 Kellen Dunham
of Pendleton Heights, 6-3 Devontae Morgan of Tampa, Fla., and 5-11
Chris Harrison-Docks of Okemos, Mich. Dunham averaged 23.6
points and shot 43% from three-point range as a junior at Pendleton
Heights High School, while Morgan averaged 17.3 points and 8.2
rebounds during his junior season at Tampa Prep.
Harrison-Docks averaged 23.0 points at Okemos High School.